With Honor, Over Honor, Over All

At other schools, Brandon Davies might have been high fived. At Brigham Young University, he was suspended from the nation’s third-ranked basketball team because he admitted to violating the school’s honor code by having sexual relations with his girlfriend.

An honor code is an honor code and the one at BYU, a private school affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, requires students to “live a chaste and virtuous life.” Students are also required to be honest; abstain from alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee and substance abuse; and attend church regularly.

Seems like honor codes aren’t just limited to the service academies, and they’re taken just as seriously. My high school had (and still does) an honor system (though nowhere to this degree). And Regent University, where I’m hoping to attend in a year or so, makes students sign a “community life” agreement that not only requires the acknowledgement of certain principles, but contains the same clause that got Davies in trouble:

Students are expected to abstain from sexual impurity, including the viewing and/or reading of pornographic literature and from other immoral activities.

So, knowing that-and having to put pen to paper to show that you know and understand what you’re getting into!-if you mess up, there are consequences. Kudos to BYU for standing on principle.

However, I think this is important as well: Davies did admit to breaking the school’s code. He could’ve not said anything at all, kept playing ball, and could’ve excelled with the rest of his team. No one would’ve ever known…and it’s not like the NCAA would’ve invalidated any of BYU’s wins over this.

But he didn’t. He chose to honor the code; not knowing the full consequences, but showing a willingness to accept them anyway. To me, that says a lot.

I gotta say, I hope he’s not thrown out of BYU for this. But if he is, based solely on his actions in this instance, maybe he should look into the military. I’d much rather follow a guy into combat who’s screwed up and accepted responsibility than one who’s screwed up and runs from it.